Stories of the Mysterious Beyond
by Angelwriter84
Summary: Book 2 of Stories of the Valley. Littlefoot and the gang are about to start shaping their own stories even more than before as they embark on one of their most difficult journeys yet. As they struggle to find their way home, they learn that there are so many more stories to learn.


**Hi everyone, it's been too long! I've been really anxious to continue this story. In case you are confused, this is Book 2 of Stories of the Valley. So it might be better to start there, if you haven't already read it, to catch up on what's going on so far. **

**This chapter is going to be very short, but I at least want to get the ball rolling on this story and to set the tone for the story. Also, many of you requested a Spike POV, and it just so happened he seemed like the perfect character to start us off. **

**Before we get started: I do not own The Land Before Time of any of its characters! This series and its characters are property of Universal Studios. Only OC characters are created by me for the purpose of this story. **

**Also, the song in this chapter is basically "Jenny's Song" from George RR Martin's Game of Thrones series and the HBO TV series. **

**Thank you for all your support and feedback from the last story. It reminded me to keep writing, even where there was a lot going on. I hope you enjoy Book 2, as well!**

**Best,**

**Angelwriter84**

**Chapter 1 The Tribute Song**

_Spike: Unspecified time_

It was the worst of times to be silent, but the best of times to be observant. A calm quietness hung over the crowd as they all huddled in the big cave. Everyone had rushed in when the wind and rains continued to come down harder and harder. Now, everything was calm. The rain was soft, and thunder rolled in the distance. The citizens of the Valley were all listening to the winds, trying to decide if it was safe to venture home.

No one was better at listening than he was. Some creatures listened: not all, but most of them. Spike, on the other hand, chose to listen all the time. Some of the best listeners often spoke before they pieced together the rest of the story. Everyone around him were talkers. He, one the other hand, was a full time listener. And it wasn't really because he couldn't. He just chose not to. It made him feel calm in situations where everyone else panicked. He preferred to keep this insane life as simple as possible.

And moments like these were his favorite. Everyone was sitting around, listening, and not saying anything. They were calm. Moments like this never lasted long. They were few and far in-between.

Little did he know that this moment would be the last calm he would remember for quite a while.

Finally, one of the adults spoke up. "Should we go home?"

Mr. Threehorn and Mr. Longneck contemplated the question for a full minute before the sound of rain coming down much harder answered the question.

"Probably not," Mr. Threehorn answered, plopping back down.

Spike heard the quietest of sharptooth sighs from the back. Chomper and his parents were forced to take shelter with everyone, too. It took forever to get some Valley citizens to calm down as the family plowed their way to an isolated corner of the cave.

It was Chomper's father. Not a lot of Valley people took time to observe this, but it was easy to see he didn't want to be here at all.

"Well, what are we going to do now? I'm bored," Cera stated.

"Me too," Petrie groaned.

"It's too quiet," Ella agreed.

"Anyone know a song?" Tria asked, in her usual bubbly voice.

There was a mixed grumble of people groaning and others pitching ideas. Tria looked at Mr. Longneck. "Mr. Longneck?"

"You'd rather take your chances outside," he laughed.

"Britta, know any?"

"None that come to mind. Mr. Threehorn?" It was a joke, but Cera's dad frowned and grunted as his final answer. Britta smiled and leaned back. It was silent for a moment. Everyone was calm and huddled close to their friends and family. A cheery song wouldn't fit. Spike waited for someone to think of the right campfire song.

Pterano never cared to be noticed since he returned to the Valley, and only seemed to stay for his family. Spike was glad he was the one who, for whatever reason, started the song. He had a nice, calm singing voice to fit the smooth song.

"_Over the lands of creatures of old_

_One stays to dance with her ghosts,_

_The ones she had lost and the ones she had found_

_And the ones who had loved her the most._"

He stopped and looked to Britta for help with the words. From the way everyone perked up during the first few verses, the song was easily recognizable. Even Chomper's parents stopped to listen. But Spike and his friends, and everyone younger than they were, looked around in confusion. Why hadn't they heard it before?

Surprisingly, Ella was the one to remember the lyrics first. It seemed like it was second nature to her, like the song was a favorite of hers a long time ago.

"_The ones who'd been gone for so very long_

_She couldn't remember their names._

_They spun her around on the damp cold stones_

_Spun away the sorrow and pain." _

Pterano smiled and helped Ella through the last bit of the song when she began to feel shy. As they sang the last big together, Spike realized that this song must be a tribute to the dinosaurs of old that perished in the famine of the Mysterious Beyond. Like his parents. Like Littlefoot's mom… Like a lot of family and friends that weren't in the Valley now. This song made them all think of how lucky they were that this song was a reminder, and not a way of life.

"_And she never wanted to leave, _

_Never wanted to leave,_

_Never wanted to leave, _

_Never wanted to leave._"

…

_Omniscient _

Kenneth listened as they sang what was known their old herd as "The Tribute Song." Like many herds, they used to say a name in place of the word "one," but after many members of their herd never returned from the liquid flames that nearly engulfed their entire herd, they stopped assigning one name.

When the famine came to pass and many feel to starvation, earthshakes, or sharpteeth many herds began to model this song after theirs to honor their fallen.

Still, he found himself remembering better times. When "The Tribute Song" was "Mary's Song" and when Bronn would sing it at night just to make Helene smile. Bronn always had a good voice, but Helene had a better smile. It was such a well-known song, Bronn didn't have to rethink the words.

Meanwhile, Topps lay next to his family, pretending to be neutral to the song. He always pretended to be uninterested when Ivy sang, too. At the end of the day, he sometimes made a loop to help Ivy finish scavenging because she could get distracted. And she would sometimes never get her work done.

A lot of times, Topps ended up sorting out all the supplies and food they gathered while Ivy sat with her back to him, daydreaming and singing about how Addie never wanted to leave. Topps huffed and puffed a lot, but really…

It his favorite song. He loved the story. He like hearing her sing. It was always his favorite thing growing up.

Britta sat with her back resting on Pterano's knee. As they sung the last part of the song, she grinned and looked down, remembering a similar times when she and Pterano sat just like this as they all, really Tim, begged Sierra to sing Jen's favorite song.

They used to know it as "Jeneve's Song," and it was always Jen's favorite. And it wasn't that Sierra had a good voice by any means. It was that nothing any of them did pleased their families that day, and everything seemed to go wrong. Everything was changing. But somehow was as in a decent a mood as he got and it somehow lifted spirits to hear someone so mean just sing for his girl.

After twenty no's, Sierra finally gave in when Jen smiled up at him and started the song for them and all their friends.

Nicolas remembered when they all used to sit in their favorite high spot in the swamp lands, but they had to wait until they were sure the sharpteeth's night hunt was over. Lissie always had a great voice, but never liked to sing in front of others. Callie almost always ended up singing for them as they huddled closed together. Lexie took after her mother in so many ways.

This song always came up at some point. It was a story from the past. A song to remind them to do better for their children, so they could live in a world where they wouldn't be left behind. Even though many of the herd members in the circle he was at his happiest in were gone or not here, they all went on to do this for their children. They were sitting in their own circle now.

Risa lay with her head on top of Saban's. She was glad that they made it safely to the cave, but crowds of dinosaurs constantly staring made her uneasy. She lifted her head in interest when she heard the song, remembering the solemn story behind the song. Her mother told her the backstory one day, as they watch the sun set over the Big Water.

She'd said, "For leaf eaters, this song is based on the story of another leaf eater who has died in some way. Her soul stays behind, even after she dies and after her herd has moved on. Her memories tie her to the place where she lived her days, and her soul stays there. Forever. For us, the leaf eater is always a mother. She is needlessly hunted by a sharptooth, and remains behind to watch over her children. Only they aren't there. Just their memories. This song is to remind us of integrity, even on the hunt."

Risa never got to ask her mother about the validity or origins of this story, and she forgot about it. It wasn't until the famine hit that Saban and her friends reminded her of the existence of the mysterious song, causing her to come to the haunting realization that the story was real even if they weren't sure it happened.

They were all hungry, and Saban spotted a young clubtail huddled close to her egg, in the open. The first sign of easy prey they had seen in weeks. Saban turned his head to her and made a chomping motion with her teeth, asking if anyone was interested in going in.

Saban sighed dismissively when Risa wrinkled her nose at him in disgust, and again when Aria shook her head. He sounded as if he already knew this hunt was off limits before he even asked.

Finally, his snout pointed to Ramon, the only one left to break the tie. Not one to cause conflict, Ramon began whistling the tune to the song and went off in the opposite direction on the clubtail. Saban bent his head over a small puddle of water and grunted a tune that somewhat fit the song to make it more cheery, and managed to snatch a fish before taking off after Ramon. Aria rolled her eyes and followed. Risa stayed behind a while, thinking of how some silly song couldn't seem more relevant at the time.

Risa looked to Saban now, who was pretending to be aloof to the melody and wondered what he was really thinking. This song was always his favorite. Actually, she just remembered they never got to teach it to Chomper.

The rest of the adults listened too, most of them realizing they never got around to teaching this story to their kids because, at first, this song caused raw feelings to resurface. Then, at some point, the story was forgotten.

…

_Spike_

As Spike and his friends listened to the words of the song, the words and the wind and rain seemed to grow fainter as they all got lost in their thoughts. He wasn't even sure at what point everyone decided to call it a night. Even though there was a storm outside, each family looked so peaceful together. They all slept fairly close to their families, but he and his friends slept in the usual huddle.

Later that week, the friends argued about the meaning of the somewhat haunting, but intriguing song. They all eventually questioned various adults they trusted: all their parents, Grandma and Grandpa Longneck, Pterano and Britta... Everyone either had one of two answers.

"I don't know… It's just a story. Why?" or "The song is a tribute to those of us who never made it to shelter. The song is from the point of view of the herd member that passed away, usually a lady but not always. Some herds stopped saying a name when the famine hit, because they lost so many people, and the song felt so personal. It's the only song every herd knows."

Well, the stories and explanations varied a lot and were longer, but that was the gist of why each herd knew the story.

Cera sighed after a long day of asking around. "Okay, Spike, you were right. Happy?"

"Er."

Not really. They all spent the entire day convincing Cera this wasn't just "some dumb story." It got a little ridiculous.

Littlefoot thought about something for a moment. "Hey guys, if something happened and one of us never came back-"

"Don't say that!" Chomper said.

"That never happen!" Petrie butted in, unable to bear that thought of such a thing happening.

"Well, obviously, but if it did… Do you think when we became adults, we would forget? I mean, none of us even knew this song until today. And it's famous."

They were all silent for a long moment, with crickets in the background. "No," Cera finally answered. "We wouldn't. We would remember every day."

Spike nodded because he really did think that was true. His friends talked a lot and were constantly putting themselves into chaos, so they forgot a lot of stuff. But after all these years, that's something he knew they would never forget.


End file.
